Andreas Karlstadt

Andreas Karlstadt (1485-24 December 1541) was a German Christian theologian during the Protestant Reformation. Karlstadt was known for his reforms to Protestantism, including vernacularization of Mass and iconoclasm, reforms which Martin Luther opposed. His reforms were some of the causes of the German Peasants' War.

Biography
Andreas Karlstadt was born in Karlstadt, Franconia in 1485, and he received his doctorate in theology in 1510 from the University of Wittenberg. In 1511, he became Chancellor of Wittenberg University, and he granted Martin Luther his doctorate a year later. Karlstadt was amused by Luther's comical criticism of the Catholic Church and its practice of selling indulgences, and he began to press for reforms after the 1521 Diet of Worms. In January 1522, he approved of the removal of religious imagery from churches, and the Pope forced Frederick III, Elector of Saxony to halt Karlstadt's reforms; Frederick secretly supported Karlstadt. In March 1522, Karlstadt reasserted his mystical learnings, decided to wear peasant clothing to mass, renounced his three doctoral titles, and insisted that he be referred to as "Brother Andreas" instead of "Professor Karlstadt". His views were used by the rebels in the German Peasants' War, and Luther campaigned against Karlstadt and his radical teachings, which included the vernacularization of the Bible from Latin to German. Karlstadt fled to Switzerland when the revolt failed, and he taught there until he died of plague in Basel in 1541.